FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT SARDAR SAROVAR DAM - PAGE 2

KEVADIA: Suggesting that UPA government was biased against Gujarat, Chief Minister Narendra Modi said the gates on the Sardar Sarovar dam had not been installed yet even though he had taken up the matter with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh many times. "Gates are yet to be installed on Sardar Sarovar dam. Only after gates are installed, the dam will be filled with water. I have met Prime Minister many times and told him that installation of gates would take three years.

NEW DELHI: Activist Medha Patkar's condition was stable on Thursday, a day after she was forcibly admitted to a hospital here after an indefinite hunger strike to protest against raising the height of the Sardar Sarovar dam. Patkar has been on a fast at Jantar Mantar since March 29 and was taken to the ICU at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) by police around midnight Wednesday after her condition deteriorated. "Patkar spoke to me in the morning and she was sounding better," said Deepti, a close aide of hers.

AHMEDABAD/MUMBAI: The Narmada Control Authority (NCA) on Thursday gave its approval to Gujarat for raising the height of the Sardar Sarovar Dam to 138.68 metres from 121.92 m, in a decision that will benefit parched regions of the state but which has angered activists. The decision comes within days of Narendra Modi , a strong votary of raising the height of the dam, taking over as Prime Minister . Chief Minister Anandiben Patel made the announcement about the NCA nod during her visit to Junagadh.

VADODARA: Gujarat government on Saturday invited 'Expression of Interest' for providing consultancy services to build 182 metre high statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel near the Sardar Sarovar dam. It will be the tallest statue in the world and will be two times taller than New York's Statue of Liberty and almost five times that of Rio de Janeiro's Christ the Redeemer. The advertisement inviting EoI has estimated the cost of the project at Rs 1200 crore and the consultants would need to submit their proposals by July 11. Consultants who are required to provide various technical and managerial services would also need to suggest a revenue model for the project.

VADODARA: At least 42 people, most of them children on their way to school, were killed when a bus fell into Narmada canal at Bodeli village in the district this morning. "Forty-two bodies, most of them of children, have so far been fished out from the canal," DSP Vadodara (Rural) Amit Vishwkarama told reporters. Four children were rescued from the 60-feet deep canal, District Collector Vijay Nehra said. The Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation bus was on its way from Targol to Bodeli when the mishap occurred.

AHMEDABAD: Bollywood star Aamir Khan on Friday incurred the anger of pro-Narmada dam activists in Gujarat for supporting Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar agitation on raising the dam height. BJP's youth wing members burned the actor's effigy in Ahmedabad and some activists barged into a cinemahall in Vadodara disrupting the screening of Rang De Basanti. Mr Khan had urged the Centre to stop work on raising the height of the Sardar Sarovar dam until thousands of farmers displaced by the project are compensated.

GANDHINAGAR: Praising the Narendra Modi Government for swift approval to raise the height of Narmada dam , meeting a longstanding demand of Gujarat, Union Minister Smriti Irani today said the just-formed NDA administration has done in weeks what UPA regime could not do in eight years. "For eight years, Gujarat BJP , along with the State Government, had been pleading with the previous Congress-led Central Government to raise the height of Narmada dam. It has not been even eight weeks since the new Government took over and Prime Minister Narendrabhai has given to Gujarat what is its right," she told reporters here.

AHMEDABAD: Hundreds of tribals living around the controversial Narmada dam site in Gujarat may have to give up their lands yet again — this time for an eco-tourism project. The government is planning to forcibly displace about 1,000 tribal families from six villages, alleges the anti-dam Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA). "This is the second round of displacement for the original inhabitants of this land," NBA leader Medha Patkar said. The NBA has for years opposed the Sardar Sarovar Dam project on river Narmada as it has displaced thousands of people.The eco-tourism plan was meant to help the government raise finances for the dam project, which has seen huge cost overruns.

NEW DELHI: Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and conveyed his displeasure over the Centre's refusal to provide gas to the state at prices it is given to Mumbai and Delhi. "It was a very good meeting and we had a long discussion during which several different issues came up. The prime minister gave his good wishes for the development of Gujarat and the success of the new government. I gave an assurance that Gujarat will give full support to all measures taken for the welfare of the people," Modi told reporters after the hour-long meeting here.

AHMEDABAD: Gujarat Parivartan Party(GPP) today alleged that Chief Minister Narendra Modi , by targeting the Centre over the Narmada Dam issue, was shielding his "criminal negligence" of the past 12 years in non-completion of canal construction works. "During BJP's foundation Day function Chief Minister had claimed people are facing water problem because the Central Government had been refusing permission to build gates on Narmada Dam. This is a ploy to cover up his criminal negligence of not completing the construction work of Narmada canals for the past 12 years," GPP General Secretary Gordhan Zadafia said while addressing the media here.